Vista Tuneup

• 14Apr

  Speeding Up YouTube on Windows Vista

  Networking, Performance No Comments
  Streaming video has become the backbone of the internet entertainment experience, allowing us to catch TV shows, movies, and miscellaneous video shorts at our convenience. It has also made stars out of singers, satirists, comedians, and can raise awareness of brands, products and causes with a few seconds of video, bringing the power recently reserved only for major TV and cable stations to anybody with a camera and an internet connection.

  YouTube is without a doubt the king of the video streaming websites, and it is one of the top destinations for anybody with a working internet connection. The trouble is, the quality of the videos on YouTube have gone up, all the way to full HD 1929 x 1080 resolution, making the process of buffering so much longer. This problem can be made worse if you happen to be running Windows Vista, which is notorious for being sluggish and bloated with all sorts of programs and services. It also requires a lot more system resources than its predecessor, Windows XP, and even its successor, Windows 7. So even as your internet connection might be the key factor slowing down your YouTube experience, Windows Vista isn’t helping either.

  The Hard(ware) Way

  One way you can resolve this is to simply add more memory or upgrade to a faster processor. This will increase your system performance across the board, video streaming included. Another way is to tweak your own software a bit, specifically your browser.

  Cleaning Up Your Browser

  Whether you use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer,  Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox, the key to faster YouTube buffering without having to download any third-party programs. Whenever you surf the internet, all of the information, be it text, pictures, or video, is downloaded onto your hard drive, where it is kept temporarily in your cache folder. Only a certain portion of your hard drive can be used for this purpose, so once it fills up, the old files are erased as the new files are downloaded. This has the net effect of slowing down the load times of all the webpages you visit, and can slow down video streaming to a crawl because the video files takes up a lot more space. That’s why clearing the cache is one effective and absolutely free way to speed up not just video buffering on YouTube, but the loading of all the webpages you visit.

  For Internet Explorer 8, simply access Tools, select Delete Browsing History, and check the boxes for Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and History. Then press Delete.

  If you use Mozilla Firefox 3, then simply click on Tools, and then on Clear Private Data. Select Browsing History, Download History, Saved Form and Search History, Cache, and Cookies for deletion, and then click on the Clear Private Data Now button.

  For Google Chrome users, the process is much the same. Click on the wrench icon on the upper right corner of the browser window and then select Clear browsing data, checking the following items below: Clear browsing history, Clear download history, Empty the cache, and Delete cookies.

  These steps will give you some cache space for a smoother surfing and video streaming experience, as well as freeing up system resources that allow Windows Vista to function much better.

   

  Tags: buffering fix, correct video, speed up video, streaming video, video error, video lag, YouTube fix

• 06Apr

  Beating the Blue Screen of Death on Windows Vista

  Performance, Windows Vista No Comments
  Anybody who’s ever used any version of Windows has experienced it. You’re working on your PC, minding your own business, and then it strikes out of nowhere: the blue screen of death. All the things you were working on, whatever unsaved work you had – all gone. This story has been repeated across every PC around the world for almost two decades.

  While the occurrence of these blue screens of death have gone down as hardware got better and software got more advanced, they can still be something of a hassle, striking when you least expect it, usually when you have some particularly important unsaved work on your screen.

  These problems are exacerbated by early versions of Windows Vista, which are known to eat up exorbitant amounts of system resources for doing even the most menial computing tasks, such as transferring files between folders. It was during these times that blue screens of death once again became prolific. While service packs and updates eventually improved Vista, its reputation was irrevocably damaged.

  If you’re running Vista and don’t wish to be visited by this infamous icon of modern computing, there are several things you can do to minimize your risk. and save you a lot of hassle.

  Saving Memory

  First of all, make sure that you’re not running too many programs at the same time. The blue screen of death can be triggered whenever the system runs out of resources, particularly memory. Every program takes up some memory, even if it’s only running in the background. Turn on only the programs you need and shut off pretty much everything else off, especially if you use memory-heavy applications like video editing software or video games. Taking this step will preserve your system’s memory and help ward off the blue screen of death. A longer term solution would be to purchase more memory, but this isn’t always possible, especially for laptop users.

  Faulty Drivers and Defective Software

  If the blue screen of death begins popping up more often after installing a new piece of hardware or software, then that might be what’s causing the problem. Some drivers and programs may be causing a conflict with Windows Vista’s operations, causing the system to crash. The quick and easy way to remedy this would be to uninstall the offending hardware or software either by using the Add/Remove Programs utility or by rolling back your system configuration via system restore. If you really need that new piece of hardware or software, then you might want to try updating your device’s drivers, the version of the software you need to run, or by checking to see if there’s a Windows update that can fix your problem

  Malware Attacks

  Viruses and other forms of malware can cause damage to your system’s important files, wreaking havoc on how Windows Vista operates. If you suspect a virus is causing your blue screen troubles, try using an antivirus program to get rid of it, or if that fails, try using System Restore to roll back your system to a time that predates your problem.

  By following these simple tips and backing up your data and creating restore points often, you should be able to rid your computing experience of the dreaded blue screen of death.

  Tags: blue screen of death, BSOD, fix blue screen, fix bsod, pc hang, Vista blue screen

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